Multi-media presentations performed with video projection equipment have become very common for business and entertainment purposes. Often, the video projection equipment is a portable LCD projector that is placed on a table, cart, or stand in the room, with the image projected on a portion of the wall or a portable screen. Such impromptu arrangements, however, have a number of drawbacks. First, a considerable amount of time is often needed to position, aim, and focus the projector in advance of the presentation—time that is expended repeatedly whenever a different projector is set up. Further, it is often difficult to position a portable projector where it is not in the way of persons moving about in the room, or in the line of sight for those viewing the presentation. Moreover, the wires and cables used to connect the projector with the computer are in the open at ground level, presenting a tripping hazard and an opportunity for damage to the projector if someone comes in contact with them.
In view of these many drawbacks of portable projectors, mounting devices have been developed to enable mounting of a projection device from the ceiling of a presentation room. Such devices have generally been successful in alleviating some of the problems associated with a projector at ground level having exposed wires. These prior ceiling mounting devices have presented certain drawbacks, however.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,655, a device for mounting a video/data projector from a ceiling or wall is disclosed in which struts are used to form channels for supporting the projector and to concealing cabling. The channels, however, result in a rather bulky device that may be difficult to harmonize with the aesthetic environment of a presentation room. In addition, adjustment of the projector for roll, pitch, and yaw may be time consuming and difficult due to the generally limited adjustment capability of the device. Also, the projector may be vulnerable to theft by anyone with common hand tools and access to the device during unattended hours. Other prior devices such as the low-profile LCD projector mount is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,068, offer a relatively more compact mount arrangement, but still offer only a limited range of projector pitch and yaw adjustment, and no roll adjustment at all.
A projector mount is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,359, which alleviates many of the problems of prior devices. U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,359 is owned by the owners of the present invention and is hereby fully incorporated herein by reference. The disclosed mount provides independent projector roll, pitch, and yaw adjustments along with theft deterrence in the form of coded fasteners connecting each separate portion of the mount. Fine adjustment for position may be hampered, however, due to the number of separate fasteners to be loosened and tightened to enable adjustment (six for the pitch and roll adjustments), and by the tendency for the weight of the projector to pull the mount out of adjustment unless the projector is held in the desired position. Also, although the theft resistant security fasteners inhibit theft of the device, convenience of use of the projector device is compromised by the need to remove the security fasteners with a special tool in order to move the projector to a new location.
A further improvement of this projector mount is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,497,412, hereby fully incorporated herein by reference. The projector mount described therein enables easy micro-adjustment of projector aim in roll, pitch, and yaw, and also enable quick disconnect of the projector from the mount.
A difficulty with all these mounts, however, is that projectors of different makes often employ different mounting-fastener patterns for attaching a mount to the projector. This has required a multiplicity of different projector mount models, each matched to a different projector make.
While universal mount interfaces, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,536, hereby fully incorporated herein by reference, have provided a way to attach a projector to a variety of different projector makes, a persistent difficulty, even with such universal mounts, has been that projectors often have serviceable parts, such as filters and bulbs, that are located in the vicinity of the fastener locations for attaching the projector to the mount. When these parts need to be replaced or serviced, the mount must be removed from the projector to obtain access. Because the projector typically cannot be simply reattached in precisely the same position at it was before the mount was removed, the projector typically must be tediously and time-consumingly re-aimed. This re-aiming typically is performed by a professional, causing expense and delay for the projector end-users.
Hence, a need still exists in the industry for a projector mount easily and quickly adaptable to a multiplicity of different projector makes and that enables easy serviceability of the projector by end-users.